Parents, Toy Companies Stress After Recall

Frantic Search For Tainted Products Begins After Fisher-Price Recalls Nearly 1 Million Chinese-Made Toys

(CBS/AP)  Wendy Schneider-Fisher is nervous about what toys to buy her children.

"I'm less inclined to buy anything from China," said Schneider-Fisher, of New Albany, Ohio, who was heading into a local Toys 'R' Us on Thursday. "And I'm upset our government doesn't do more to stop it."

Schneider-Fisher's comments reflect the quandary many American parents face after the world's largest toy company, Mattel Inc., recalled almost 1 million Chinese-made toys because they may contain lead.

As if fears over contaminated toothpaste, poisoned pet food and faulty tires weren't enough, the latest recall of Chinese-made products has anxious parents rummaging through toy chests to find tainted Big Birds and Dora the Explorer toys.

It also has stressed-out toy companies, which are going through their inventory to see if their products are harmless. And it has China, again, insisting that its products are safe.

On Thursday, Mattel's Fisher-Price brand announced it is recalling 83 types of toys — including the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters — because their paint contains excessive amounts of lead. The recall involves 967,000 plastic preschool toys made by a Chinese vendor and sold in the United States between May and August.

Under current U.S. regulations, children's products found to have more than 0.06 percent of lead are subject to a recall.

Mattel says it is investigating why the manufacturer did not follow company rules and use paint "from approved and certified suppliers," reports CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes.

'They actually entrusted the testing of these toys to the actual factory that was producing them," says Don Mays of Consumer Reports. "We think that that was a mistake."

For parents, replacing the tainted toys with ones they trust are safe could pose a problem: 80 percent of all toys are made in China.

"It seems like everything's from China. But if I could find a similar toy that was American-made, I would definitely buy it even if it cost more," said Allen Mayne, of Columbus, Ohio., who was shopping at a local Toys 'R' Us for his 9-year-old daughter.

"I think it would be in everyone's best interests to look for American-made products, stuff you can feel confident about, stuff that's just not the cheapest junk that you can get," he said

With discounters like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. waging price wars, the pressure has been on toy companies to cut costs by producing cheaper toys in China. With exceptions like Mattel, which estimates that about 50 percent of its production in China is made in company-owned plants, many toy companies turn to contract factories, a cheaper alternative.

Thursday's toy recall follows the June recall by RC2 Corp. of 1.5 million wooden railroad toys and set parts from its Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line because of lead paint. Those toys were also made in China.

Industry experts are worried there will be more toy recalls to come, and fear parents will be more skeptical when buying holiday toys, even avoiding Chinese products altogether.

"Everyone is concerned that this could really undermine the traditional toy business if consumers think that the toys are unsafe," said New York-based toy consultant Chris Byrne.

[docjohn111]

This is a bigger problem then many may think. TCBY stores are putting some of the plastic figures, which are on the recall list for lead paint, on thier cakes. This means that the LEAD PAINT is coming incontact with food products. I got one of the Cookie Monster Figures on my son's 1st birthday cake 2 days ago. And only today found it was RECALLED. This is a VERY BIG PROBLEM! Who should be held for this? Goverment? Stores? Manufactures?

[flwmeadow]

Hey everyone - write your congressmen (after to find out who they are) and let them know what you think instead of wasting your breath here.

No one that reads your comments here can do anything. Your concerns have to make it onto a ballot somewhere before anything will truly be done about all this.

So......what are you waiting for?

[sclaires]

This is what the US gets for outsourcing the manufacture of toys to China. Toys with lead paint. If the companies in charge didn't have their hand in the pocket of all the profits, we could have SAFE toys for out children. But, no, all the big shots are after is more money in their pockets instead of safe toys for our children.

[djohnson0417]

Attention Americans!!! Who ARE the terrorists?? WE ARE!!! We continue to outsource our work, such as "toy making" to other countries to save a buck without securing the safety of our children and ourselves!! We have every resource needed to make our own dog food, toys, tires, and to find another resource to fuel our cars!! So WHY aren't we??
Bush, Clinton, whomever. It shouldn't matter who is President..We ALL make our choices and make the decisions for our country..That%u2019s why YOU VOTE and get involved!! Shame on all of us!! Let%u2019s take some ownership of who is making the toys for our children!!

[jonesforch]

Mattel?

This is what you get for shipping your intrest to the Chinese so you could get a bigger profit.
SHAME on YOU.

[mcvet]

If we're complaining about other countries' manufacturing processes not living up to our standards then we are being disingenuous, because we've set the standard. We demand more cr@p & that's just what we get.
Posted by ecuadoriana at 01:15 PM : Aug 02, 2007

WHEN these toys were made in America those Standards were met, now they are not and we're being posioned. It's time to stop this garbage... to many American's have suffered, to many Jobs have been exported. It's time to care about America and stop this NOW!!

[mcvet]

One has to wonder why CBS couldn't act ethically in its pursuit of a scoop. Is the best scoops they can get the ones handed to them by a press release? That's sad...
Posted by galaxiana at 02:17 PM : Aug 02, 2007

Is there ANYTHING you Corporate Nazi's won't do? What does CBS News have to do with the POSIONING of our Kids? IF they DIDN'T release that news to EVERY American Parent the MINUTE they got it, I sure wouldn't listen to them EVER again. As for you and your Greed, while you wanted CBS to wait some child is chewing a toy.. But of course that's just a Working American's Child and is of no concern to you huh? God where do you Fascist come from?? Sieg Heil Y'all.

[hotmama051]

Personnaly...i have a15 month old little boy and im sick and tired of hearing about all these toys being recalled for our childrens safety and health. Maybe they should all learn to make them properly the first time or don't make them at all

Pissed

[galaxiana]

It's worth noting that CBS was one of the news agencies that broke the embargo requested by the manufacturers, posting this story Tuesday evening in an effort to get a "scoop" on the other news agencies.

There is a fine balance between "working with" your sources and betraying them. Mattel/Fisher-Price could have simply held off on releasing ANY information, but they gave it out early, asking the news agencies to honor a release date and time, so that the news agencies would have time to prepare stories and properly investigate. Of course, the company wanted time also to set up its hotline and get more product off the shelves, so it worked for both sides' benefit.

One has to wonder why CBS couldn't act ethically in its pursuit of a scoop. Is the best scoops they can get the ones handed to them by a press release? That's sad...

[ecuadoriana]

"Bashing China. China is the enemy...This is EXACTLY what BushCo wants you to believe. We did this to Cuba, Viet Nam, France and on and on. When Saddam didn't give BushCo what they wanted, we waged war and so far have killed over a million innocent people..." Posted by mariony at 10:14 AM : Aug 02, 2007

Whew, someone who makes some sense! Thank you, mariony.

Now, rather than everyone immediately turning to bash mariony & myself, stop & think about how much we're all not so much dependent on mass manufacturing from other countries, but rather how we've allowed ourselves to become hypnotised by our greed for more so that we've allowed ourselves to become dependent on mass manufacturing. We've become a nation of believing that we want & need more of basically nothing important & wanting it now & for as cheap as possible.

Why on earth are we buying so much plastic cr@p in the first place? Does one really need so much stuff? How many toys can one kid play with? Multiply that by millions of people & it becomes an endless track of junk that we later toss into the landfills while replenishing our homes & lives with more junk!

If we're complaining about other countries' manufacturing processes not living up to our standards then we are being disingenuous, because we've set the standard. We demand more cr@p & that's just what we get.

[susieq_13]

Let's start making these toys in the USA instead of in another country. Also, why is a toy company using lead based paint when they shouldn't be? That makes no sense to me. Maybe I'm just ignorant, I don't know.

[mainemade]

Not to be repetative but again..Can anyone please explain to me why business with China is a good thing?? Seems to me they are trying, in any possible way, to poison us all. And with all the *** made in China its almost impossible to avoid any and all of their products or ties to their/our products. Bring back "Made in USA"! Maybe our unemployment rates and homeless rates might change a whole lot if these cheap labor, poisoning, sweat-shop countries!

[rushlimpdrug]

America is . . . not graduating enough scientists and engineers. . . . Well the economy won't go very far if everybody is a manager, salesperson, or paper-pusher.
Posted by incog-nito

Hillary by contrast has went before Silicon Valley executives and promised to raise the H1B1 caps.
Posted by omega39

These are excellent points -
I believe it is total helll for "regular" parents to afford sending kids to college. It may never have been easy, but higher education for American kids has not been a priority to scum politicians for quite some time.

[my2centss]

Our country was built and made strong by manufacturing and farming. When they are gone, we are in trouble.

[incog-nito]

A few years back Radio Flyer, maker of the red wagon toys, an American symbol and something every kid grows up with, closed down all domestic factories and move their operations to, where else, China.

The manufacturing base is quickly disappearing, and Americans will suffer for it. Manufacturing is the backbone of the economy, creating wealth by adding value to raw material and selling it. Manufacturing is what made Japan, a tiny country with little natural resources, one of the richest nations.

What's more, America is starting to lose on the technology front also, not graduating enough scientists and engineers. Kids nowadays just want to get rich quick and skip the hard courses by going to business school. Well the economy won't go very far if everybody is a manager, salesperson, or paper-pusher.

[candy-apple]

Do you think this type of thing would continue to happen if these products were "Made in America"?

It appears as if the Chinese manufacturers could care less about what they are using in products intended to be shipped to America. It's time to bring these companies back home!!

[blazercoach1]

ibsteve,

It may have started with Reagan (actually, Nixon, Ford, and Carter) but it was also a cornerstone of Clinton foreign policy. This is something he is CHAMPIONED for is foreign policy circles....dealing diplomatically through economics. Sharing the economic wealth is a very valid method of gaining friends abroad.

You may debate whether or not we have done it responsibly, but to blame one side of the aisle or the other is, quite frankly, demonstrating a poorly informed opinion. Both sides advocate "outsourcing". One does it to bring down costs and the other does it as a measure of sharing the wealth.

[zootallures2]

Cheap penny pinching Americans strike again.

[generey]

Has anyone stopped to think about the fact that ALL "world leaders" grew up chewing on lead painted toys??? As well as Hitler, Charles Manson, Tim McVeigh, etc etc etc. Interesting.

[missingamerica]

omega39 is right: "before wall street started demanding obscene growth rates, and before regulatory measures spurring competition by limiting mergers were completely ignored, and well before "golden parachutes", almost everything we used was produced in this country. We had a vibrant middle class that enjoyed job security, pensions, health benefits and homeownership."

Then along came Reagan and the Republicans. Look up the change in income inequality since 1980; it paints a precise picture of when greed began to destroy America.